Some recipes to celebrate return of that big yellow ball in the sky

The wind has died down, the birds are chirping and there’s a faint hint of spring in the air. At this time of year our inclination towards comfort food often leads us into the realms of brown and beige food. Nothing wrong with a hearty stew or some fluffy mash topped cottage pie but there comes a time when you yearn for something a bit more colourful.

Fried golden crispy chicken is a real crowd pleaser. If you brine the chicken first it adds a real punch of flavour and keeps the bird moist after cooking. Skinless, boneless chicken thighs are perfect for this recipe here. They’re a bit cheaper than breast and have a lot more taste. After brining the chicken its dipped in buttermilk and then into seasoned flour and repeated to give it a real crunchy coating. In the summer I’d serve this with local sweetcorn. You can buy corn on the cob in the shops now but it’s been flown from thousands of miles away and always has a fermented whiff when you open it. We can be a bit snooty sometimes about tinned vegetables but a tin of sweetcorn is a very acceptable substitute for fresh. Here it’s added to buttery onion and garlic, finished with cream and mustard and blended to a smooth puree. It’s the perfect sunny accompaniment to the chicken. For a touch of green I’ve added some grilled scallions. Drizzle them with oil and cook on a hot griddle pan to scorch – it really brings out their aroma.

For a touch of summer Broighter Gold rapeseed oil produces a hickory smoked variety that gives your food delicious smoky notes. It’s great with grilled meats as well.

Polenta is a flour made from sundried corn kernels. It has the texture of sand and is bright yellow. In certain parts of Northern Ireland you can buy Indian sodas where some cornmeal is added to the dough. It comes from when native Americans sent cornmeal here during the famine. In the recipe here it’s used in a sweet cake with cherries. It has the added bonus of being gluten free. Frozen cherries are readily available now. They’re already stoned and ideal for baking. In the recipe half the cherries are chopped and added to the cake batter and the rest are halved and pressed into the top. When ready it’s brushed with honey.

Two recipes to celebrate the reappearance of that big yellow ball in the sky!